DC Comics reviews for the week of 1/23/19

Shazam #2

It’s very obvious that Geoff Johns is having a ball writing Shazam. Maybe it’s from writing that dark and gloomy Doomsday Clock, but Johns probably had as big a smile on his face writing it as I did reading it.

The Marvel Family democratically votes on exploring the six open tunnels leading to various lands. While some don’t sound as inviting as others, the kids opt for The Funlands, because why not? Johns really has the child mentality down and it’s refreshing that there’s no pesky adults around to be responsible and keep them in line. The kids can operate on pure no impulse control and let the adventures find them.

I wasn’t sure packing Shazam with six other similarly powered characters would be the right way to go, but it was definitely the smart decision that’s already resulted in this being one of the best team books in DC right now.

If there’s any downside to this issue Johns doesn’t provide much follow-up to the appearance of Billy’s father. It was a bit disappointing to see a fill-in artist for Dale Eaglesham already, but Marco Santucci is a close enough match style wise that it’s not a dramatic shift. Santucci captures all the wide-eyed excitement of the kids just fine.

Johns also reveals he’s not straying too far from fan expectations with a Shazam book with the arrival of two familiar faces.

I really love this title. It’s unapologetically fun and reading it feels like that excitement that came before spoiler solicitations and a more mature, cynical attitude. So far Shazam is the jolt of optimism and adventure the DC Universe needs right now.

Rating: 10 out of 10